[February] The Clockmaker's Daughter, by Kate Morton - Before Starting

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

For the dual timeline pick for the February book of the month, the group has selected The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton.

For more information about the Book of the Month, see the introduction post.

* Discussion will be divided according to each "Part" of the book (Parts One through Four).

Questions before starting:
1. Have you read a book by Kate Morton before? If so, did you enjoy it?
2. What are your thoughts about books with author names that are bigger than the title?
3. What attracted you to the book? (author, dual timeline, historical fiction, etc.)
4. Do you have any predictions going into the mystery of the story?

Each discussion post will contain prompting questions. But please freely engage in discussion as much as you wish.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I've only read The Forgotten Room, which is written by Kate Morton, along with Beatriz Williams and Karen White. I've read (and loved!) Beatriz Williams since reading The Forgotten Room, so when I saw this one on Book of the Month club, I jumped on it!

I generally don't notice when author's names are bigger than the title, but considering I chose this book because of the author, I guess it makes sense that it would be marketed that way. I don't often choose a book based on an author, but I'm taking a risk with this one.

I love historical fiction, I loved the cover of this book, and I got it for free from BOTM. I had slotted it in for this prompt, so I'm glad it was voted on! (I also really enjoy dual timeline books if they're done well, so here's hoping!)

I have zero predictions. In fact, I had to go reread the book blurb just now to even remember what the book was about!

[Bana AZ]

1. Have you read a book by Kate Morton before? If so, did you enjoy it?
Nope. This is my first.

2. What are your thoughts about books with author names that are bigger than the title?
It means the author already had a successful book before. I wouldn't immediately think it's a good/bad book just because of it. It just means that the author is popular.

3. What attracted you to the book? (author, dual timeline, historical fiction, etc.)
The title intrigued me.

4. Do you have any predictions going into the mystery of the story?
None. I don't even know what it's about even though I voted for this.

[Kathy]

1. Have you read a book by Kate Morton before? If so, did you enjoy it?
Yes, I've loved all her books.

2. What are your thoughts about books with author names that are bigger than the title?
I don't like it but it doesn't stop me from reading the book.

3. What attracted you to the book? (author, dual timeline, historical fiction, etc.)
I've chosen to read this book because of the author. As soon as a new Kate Morton book is talked about I put it on my TBR.

4. Do you have any predictions going into the mystery of the story?
No, I haven't read much about the plot.

[Rachelnyc]

1. Have you read a book by Kate Morton before? If so, did you enjoy it? No, but I've heard good things and have a couple of her books on my TBR.

2. What are your thoughts about books with author names that are bigger than the title? I don't love it because it makes me think of formulaic books that are churned out by popular authors.

3. What attracted you to the book? (author, dual timeline, historical fiction, etc.)
I'm a sucker for a dual timeline novel with historic aspects.

4. Do you have any predictions going into the mystery of the story? Nope.

I'm so bummed that this won't be available from my library until mid-March. It will still be fun to read the comments even if people have moved on by the time I read this.

[Bri]

1. Have you read a book by Kate Morton before? If so, did you enjoy it?
I've never read anything from Kate Morton before so this will be a first for me!

2. What are your thoughts about books with author names that are bigger than the title?
Not a fan but I will still read the book

3. What attracted you to the book? (author, dual timeline, historical fiction, etc.)
I've started enjoying Historical Fiction and I love Mystery so I decided to give this one a try!

4. Do you have any predictions going into the mystery of the story?
Not really

[Errlee]

1. Have you read a book by Kate Morton before? If so, did you enjoy it? Nope have never read one of hers.

2. What are your thoughts about books with author names that are bigger than the title? Seems strange to me but must work for marketing purposes or they wouldn't do it.

3. What attracted you to the book? (author, dual timeline, historical fiction, etc.) Honestly I don't know anything about it - hadn't heard of it before now.

4. Do you have any predictions going into the mystery of the story? See above :)

I haven't even laid eyes on it and I'm 595th on the hold list!! She must be popular. I am hoping to get it out as an express ebook but so far none of the 14 copies are available so I will have to keep checking. Hope I can get it in time to join the discussion.

[Sabrina]

Questions before starting:
1. Have you read a book by Kate Morton before? If so, did you enjoy it? - nope :)
2. What are your thoughts about books with author names that are bigger than the title? - I don't love the idea but I suppose I can't really judge the practice since Maximum Ride by James Patterson was one of my favorite series as a kid. It's more a decision on the publisher's part than the author's part so it won't affect whether or not I pick up the book.
3. What attracted you to the book? (author, dual timeline, historical fiction, etc.) - dual timeline + historical fiction (specifically 19th century england) + mystery = happy me
4. Do you have any predictions going into the mystery of the story - I barely know what this is about so no

[Jody]

1. Have you read a book by Kate Morton before? If so, did you enjoy it?
No, I haven't - I didn't even realise she was Australian, so that was a nice surprise!
2. What are your thoughts about books with author names that are bigger than the title?
I'm not a huge fan of it, but I'm less a fan of books with "The Someone's Something" kind of title, as they're inevitably women and I'm sick of women being defined by their relationship to someone else. (Sorry, that was a little off-topic rant.)
3. What attracted you to the book? (author, dual timeline, historical fiction, etc.)
It's BotM status.
4. Do you have any predictions going into the mystery of the story?
I know nothing about the book, other than that it has more than 500 pages. 😂

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

Hmm I actually haven't paid attention to that one, Jody. Now I'm probably going to see those titles all over the place...!

[Deborah]

Questions before starting:
1. Have you read a book by Kate Morton before? If so, did you enjoy it? I have not, so I'm looking forward to giving it a try.

2. What are your thoughts about books with author names that are bigger than the title? I don't necessarily notice the text size (likely because I usually pick books off a small screen vs. full size on a shelf).

3. What attracted you to the book? (author, dual timeline, historical fiction, etc.) I have heard good things about the author, but really I picked this one based on it being a group read. I have it on hold with the library and I'm hoping to get it soon.

4. Do you have any predictions going into the mystery of the story? No, I'm going in without any preconceived ideas.

[Marin]

1. Have you read a book by Kate Morton before? If so, did you enjoy it?
I haven't. If I like this one, maybe I'll go back and give the others a try.

2. What are your thoughts about books with author names that are bigger than the title?
I'm not sure I've ever really noticed -- I'm a Stephen King fan, though, so clearly it's not a problem for me.

3. What attracted you to the book? (author, dual timeline, historical fiction, etc.)
Dual timeline mysteries are like catnip to me.

4. Do you have any predictions going into the mystery of the story?
Not yet!

[Milena]

1. Have you read a book by Kate Morton before? If so, did you enjoy it?
No, but I have wanted to read one of her books for a long time.
2. What are your thoughts about books with author names that are bigger than the title?
I never would have noticed if it had not been pointed out. Nor would I realize that it's unusual. I read almost exclusively on Kindle, so I don't notice the covers much.
3. What attracted you to the book? (author, dual timeline, historical fiction, etc.)
I participated in the prompt selection process last year. When this category was chosen, I knew I would finally read something by Kate Morton, and this book happened to come out. And I love historical fiction.
4. Do you have any predictions going into the mystery of the story?
No.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Jody, now that you pointed that out, I will not be able to stop seeing it everywhere (and probably avoiding books because of it).

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I've only just started this, but I think the way it's divided up is very intriguing. There's parts (as we have the BOTM folders divided into), then one timeline has Roman numerals as the chapter headings, and the present day timeline has Chapter One, etc. as their chapter headings.

As far as dual timelines go, it's interesting that she chose to number both sets of timelines, but only give a date (and not even that... just "Summer 2017") to the present day timeline. Past timeline is only marked by I, or II, or III, etc. with no actual dates given that I can see.

And then to further divide it up into parts... it's definitely unique.

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

I've seen a lot of reviews complaining about being confused about the timelines and the order of events. I have an awful memory but as far as I can see, I haven't had any issues with keeping it straight.

The setup is definitely interesting though. I almost question if that's intentional in that the "past timeline" will have a twist of some sort. Since it seems odd to give a date for one and not the other.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Laura wrote: "I've seen a lot of reviews complaining about being confused about the timelines and the order of events. I have an awful memory but as far as I can see, I haven't had any issues with keeping it str..."

That's what I was thinking too! I have an idea of what time it is set in, based on when Edward was alive, but I'm expecting some type of twist.

I don't think it's hard to keep track of... the past timeline has Roman numerals and is written in first person, short diary-type entries (at least at the beginning.. I haven't read many of those chapters yet), and the current timeline has chapter numbers and is written in third person. For those of you just starting, definitely pay attention to that!

[Milena]

I did notice the first and third person difference. I guess that's part of the mystery is that you don't know who is speaking since it's in first person. I may be wrong, I just started.

[Bryony]

1. Have you read a book by Kate Morton before? If so, did you enjoy it?
No, though she’s an author who I’ve been meaning to read for a while.

2. What are your thoughts about books with author names that are bigger than the title?
I didn’t actually notice this. Now it makes me wonder at what point a publisher decides that an author is famous enough that their name is a bigger selling point than the title of the book.

3. What attracted you to the book? (author, dual timeline, historical fiction, etc.)
When I started researching books for the dual timeline prompt Kate Morton seemed to be at the top of every list I saw. It seemed like she’s currently the author who’s most renowned for dual timeline stories so that made me want to read one of her books for this prompt.

4. Do you have any predictions going into the mystery of the story?
None whatsoever!

[Geri]

1. Have you read a book by Kate Morton before? If so, did you enjoy it?

This is my first Kate Morton book. But I have been wanting to read this since I found out about it. Happy I can do this as a book of the month discussion!

2. What are your thoughts about books with author names that are bigger than the title?

I don’t really notice that. But I suppose since Morton has written quite a few books and has fans, it’s probably the best way to get people’s attention.

3. What attracted you to the book? (author, dual timeline, historical fiction, etc.)

I love a mystery. And I enjoy historical fiction.

4. Do you have any predictions going into the mystery of the story?

No. I just hope to enjoy the book!